William Williams III Sells 1,810 Shares of Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) Stock

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) Director William Williams III sold 1,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $72,400.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,112,316 shares in the company, valued at $44,492,640. This represents a 0.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Live Oak Bancshares Stock Up 0.2%

LOB stock opened at $39.63 on Friday. Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.36 and a 12 month high of $44.53. The firm has a market cap of $1.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.95 and a beta of 1.86. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $41.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.31.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $156.15 million during the quarter. Live Oak Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.77% and a net margin of 12.68%. Equities analysts predict that Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Live Oak Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. Live Oak Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LOB. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Live Oak Bancshares from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Zacks Research downgraded Live Oak Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.40.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Live Oak Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LOB. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Live Oak Bancshares by 4,962.5% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,668,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,635,680 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 3.1% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 16,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $688,000 after buying an additional 499 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $326,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,643,000. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth $128,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.95% of the company’s stock.

Live Oak Bancshares Company Profile

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina, and operates through its subsidiary Live Oak Banking Company. Founded in 2008, the company leverages a branchless, technology-driven platform to deliver specialty lending and deposit products across the United States. Live Oak Bancshares completed its initial public offering in February 2018 and trades on the NYSE under the ticker symbol LOB.

The company’s primary focus is on originating and servicing commercial loans for small businesses in select industry verticals.